Skiggaret is the bugbear version of the bogeyman, as
hateful and terrifying to them as bugbears are in the
eyes of many other races. His name is rarely spoken,
and never above a whisper. Skiggaret's influence mani-
fests at times when bugbears are forced to act in a cow-
ardly fashion; a bugbear that knows or feels itself to be
in mortal danger is affected by a form of madness and
will do anything, including trying to flee, in order to stay
alive. Bugbears believe that this feeling of fear comes
from being possessed by Skiggaret, and they don't relish
experiencing it. After the madness has passed, bugbears
don't dwell on things that were done in the presence of
Skiggaret. Talking about such acts might call him back.
BLESSINGS OF THE BUGBEAR Goos
Bugbears have no use for priests or shamans. No one
needs to tell them what their gods want. If the brother
gods are angry with them, they let the bugbears know
with bolts of lightning (Hruggek) or by striking them
blind or dead (Grankhul). Bugbears worship their
gods simply by preying on other creatures, using no
other sort of ceremony to show obeisance- with one
exception.
In an act of worship that also sometimes attracts
favorable attention from their gods, bugbears sever the
heads of defeated foes, cut away or stitch open the eye-
lids, and leave the mouths hanging open. The heads are
then placed on spikes or hung from,cords around a bug-
bear den. The heads themselves are trophies that honor
Hruggek, and their ever-staring eyes are an homage to
sleepless Grankhul.
The heads of leaders and mighty opponents are partic-
ularly sacred, and offering up such a trophy can provide
a bugbear gang with a special boon. A gang that gains
the favor of Hruggek and Grankhul in this way might
find that the head will emit a shout when an enemy gets
too close (in the fashion of an alarm spell). Sometimes
the heads of people who have information the bugbears
need speak their secrets amid blubbered pleas for mercy
(as with the speak with dead spell).ONE USEl'UL TRICI(' II'
HAYE SEVERED ' YE l'ACE B UGBEARS IVHO
MEADS ON SPII(
CAST A SPELL T ES AS TROPHIES,
THAT, YE CAN CO^0 MAl<E THE MEADS SPEAI(, AFTER
~EN THE BUGBE
ALMOST A N YTH I N G. AR S INTO DOINGHOBG OBLINS
War is the lifeblood of hobgoblins. Its glories are the
dreams that inspire them. Its horrors don't feature in
their nightmares. Cowardice is more terrible to hobgob-
lins than dying, for they carry their living acts into the
afterlife. A hero in death becomes a hero eternal.
Young hobgoblins start soldiering when they can walk
and heed the mustering call as soon as they can wield
their weapons capably. Every legion in the hobgoblins'
entire society forever stands prepared for war.BRUTAL CIVILITY
Hobgoblins hold themselves to high standards of mili-
tary honor. The race has a long history of shared tradi-
tions, recorded and retold to keep the knowledge fresh
for new generations. When hobgoblins aren't waging
war, they farm, they build, and they practice both mar-
tial and arcane arts.
These trappings of civil society do little to conceal an
underlying brutality that hobgoblins practice on each
other and perfect upon other races. Punishment for
infractions of hobgoblin law are swift and merciless.
Beauty is something hobgoblins associate only with im-
ages of conflict and warfare.
The iron grip their philosophy holds on their hearts
blinds hobgoblins to the accomplishments of other peo-
ples. Hobgoblins have little appreciation or patience for....